Social Media

Weather Update

Civilian journalist offers insight on the Middle East

By Sgt. Daniel Carter
USASOC Public Affairs

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, March 5, 2013) – During a visit to Fort Bragg March 1, N.C., CNN Intelligence Analyst, Peter Bergen stopped by the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School to speak to a group of Soldiers and other personnel from the Special Operations community.

Soldiers and civilian employees attended the event in order to learn more about the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He provided further insight and perspective for professionals working in Afghanistan and Pakistan and with Counter Terrorism problem sets.

Bergen, a journalist with a background in al-Qaeda studies and is a regional security analyst with 30 years of experience as an international correspondent covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bergen, considered by many in the journalism field to being a subject matter expert on the Middle Eastern region, was able to share his extensive knowledge and expert viewpoint with the attendees. He covered such topics as the future of the Taliban, politics of the region, and the economy.

Covering these topics and providing special insight on current events in the region was the goal of United States Army Special Operations Command Intelligence Division (G2). Erin Oleary, Intelligence Analyst with USASOC, stated that being able to bring Bergen in to speak to Soldiers and the Special Operations community was a great success. Bergen was able to provide the community with a non-government perspective on the issues within the Middle Eastern region was an integral piece of the event.

"It is refreshing to hear a point of view and information from someone who has done the research, obviously exhaustive research, on the region," said Capt. Jason Schick, Bravo Co. 6th Military Information Support Battalion (Airborne).

Schick commented that being able to learn from someone, their perspective, aside from the books that students study and the news that students watch was a very rewarding experience. Soldiers were able to learn and take away with them from the event, information that would be able to help them on upcoming missions to the region.

"It is nice to be able to broaden our mind-set and to understand someone else's perspective on the emerging threats from the region," Sgt. Gordon Phillips, 8th MISB, 4th MISG (A), explained. "This information will help me to prepare for my upcoming mission."